Logitech G700

At E3, the third and final product that I viewed was the new high end gaming mouse, the Logitech G700. Billed as a more of an MMO mouse, the G700 Wireless Gaming Mouse packs a ton of features in a small package.

Let’s start with the shape. From the onset, it’s very similar to the M950 with a smaller thumb rest. It’s a design with some subtle changes but it’s a tried and true design from Logitech that’s worked well in the past. For those that have never held one, it’s quite comfortable and something that can be used for long periods of time in my experience.

There are thirteen, yes thirteen programmable buttons on this bad boy. Now in my testing, there weren’t any games that natively support this of course, so you’re going to have to tie some buttons to key presses and map them in the game. It’s a little inconvenient now, but in time when games support the mouse it’ll be less of a hassle. It was like this when more than two mouse buttons were first introduced so we’re in the same transition phase now should we see more and more mice with this amount of buttons.

Like the past few gaming mice I’ve looked at, the wheel can switch between a free flowing spin or having a clicking feel to it. What’s different is the button to switch between the two is on top just underneath the scroll wheel. Most of the mice I’ve seen has the button on the underside of the mouse. It’s a better placement in my opinion as it allows you to switch quickly without taking the mouse off the surface to do so and interrupting your gaming session. In work situations, it doesn’t matter if you keep the mouse on the table at all times but for those that want to switch between the two in a game, this is a nice little design.

Gaming mice call for high DPI and high precision and the laser on the Logitech G700 delivers. Up to 5600 DPI is supported and you can program a wide range of DPIs to switch to. While not as big of a deal as it used to be a few years ago, the ability to adjust the DPI on the fly has always been a feature I used when I play some games.

The mouse is wireless and the front features a microUSB port for recharging. The G700 comes with a very small receiver that can be neatly stored away in the battery compartment when not in use. When plugged in via USB, not only does the cord recharge the mouse, it’s also capable of passing data so when you plug it in, it’s going to act like a regular wired mouse. When you unplug it, it automatically switches to wireless mode provided you have the tiny receiver plugged in. In theory, this sounds pretty cool but I did run into an issue. Let’s say you’re playing a game and your battery dies. You decide to plug it in to continue playing. What should be a seamless transition causes the game to drop out into the desktop and you’re forced to switch back to the game to continue playing. Now, I don’t know if Logitech can fix this in their software and I know it’s probably not going to happen to often but it’s still a small issue in my opinion.

Through my testing, I found myself using it as a wired mouse more often than not, so I feel the wireless aspect was a little lost to me. Yes, I’ve played with wireless mice in the past but I kept it plugged in to make sure I was never without power interruptions and to ensure the mouse would work 100%. I’m hoping Logitech comes out with a wired version of the G700 in order to cut the costs a little and make it a little more affordable to the masses as there are some great features on this mouse that gamers can benefit by but don’t want to pay the premium or want a wireless mouse.

For performance, the G700 did really, really well in both wired and wireless situations. I didn’t notice any lag when playing without it being plugged in. Both small movements and long movements were reproduced on screen without any issues and as with most of the Logitech mouse I’ve used in the recent years, I found it to be accurate and comfortable. All the buttons were easily accessible and I had no trouble telling which one my finger or thumb was on. Now, for first person shooters, I really stuck to the basic setup and didn’t use the extra buttons but for strategy and RPG games, I did go with a more extensive setup. For certain things like using healing potions often or selecting between some of my more used formations in StarCraft II, the G700 provided the necessary extra buttons to make it useful. The G700 did well in various genres of games and it’s become the mouse I’ve used every day.

It’s got buttons galore, a comfortable feel, wireless capability, and is highly programmable. The Logitech G700 is a very good gaming mouse that can please a wide range of gamer types. Whether you need more buttons to cast spells or tie some action commands to, the Logitech G700 will do that and more for you. The only issue I really had was the desktop switching problem when losing power but that’s about it. It’s become the standard mice I use in my gaming setup and that says a lot when I am one to look for an accurate and comfortable mouse to game with.

The Logitegh G700 is a good mouse in both wireless and wired situations. The ability to switch between wired and wireless needs a little work though and not something you want to do during a game as it can kick you out of it. Performance wise, it's accurate and fast.

Rating: 8 Good

* The product in this article was sent to us by the developer/company for review.